Rangers Acquire 2026 Third Round Pick From Islanders For Carson Soucy

Around mid-day yesterday, we learned that a trade sending Carson Soucy to the New York Islanders was in the works. During last night's game against the Boston Bruins, reports came out that the return would be a 2026 third round pick. As of today, the trade is official and Carson Soucy is a New York Islander.

Soucy played in a total of 62 games with the Rangers across two seasons and was in the final year of a three-year deal with an AAV of $3.25 million, originally signed by the Vancouver Canucks. Soucy has now been traded twice during the life of that contract as the Rangers acquired him this time last year for a 2025 third round pick. He collected four goals and seven assists across those 62 games.

While this mainly comes as a breakeven type of trade, the pick the Rangers gave up to get Soucy did end up becoming the first pick of the third round last year. With it, the Canucks selected center Kieren Dervin, a left-shot center who currently has 26 points in 33 games with the Kingston Frontenacs of the OHL. The Islanders are currently third in the Metro and are on pace to make the playoffs. Meaning this third rounder will be middle of the pack at best.

As mentioned yesterday, the reason for the Rangers sending him to the Islanders likely had the player's best interest in mind. Soucy moved across the continent, to a different country to come to the Rangers in the first place last season. Soucy has a young family, and they just welcomed their third child. Not to mention, Soucy's contract came with a 12 team no-trade list.

The Islanders very much needed help on the back end as Alexander Romanov has missed an extended amount of time with an injury. The Rangers will play the Islanders in a back-to-back starting on Long Island tomorrow night.